Blaine followed Brody and the rest of the group up to Christopher Street. It was nice and cool out tonight, and Blaine pea coat and scarf weren’t quite cutting it. Where was this “Callbacks” place anyway? Nothing like this existed in stuffy little Westerville, Ohio. It was one of those towns where everyone seemed to have money, and everything was about looking good. Anything out of the ordinary that didn’t fit the cookie-cutter, conservative front that everyone put on simply wouldn’t be accepted.

Blaine had always been artsy, but had never really had a place to let it shine. Singing and dancing at Dalton was fun, but now he was somewhere he could really be himself. He was about to perform in a trendy piano bar for other people who had the same dreams he did. He was finally gonna be surrounded by other people with similar dreams and aspirations, that didn’t think it was crazy that all he wanted to do was put on a show. That is, if they ever got there and away from this awful wind.

“Hey newbies, we’re here. Looks like Berry’s already putting in her requests to Pascal…not that anyone wants to sing Barbara. Does that chick ever break away and just live a little?”

“Rachel’s just driven, that’s all. She’ll relax after a while, I’m sure of it.”

“Shut up, Brody, you just want in her pants…”

“Whatever, listen, Blaine, if you know what you wanna sing, just go up to Pascal and let him know. He pretty much knows every song there is, and if he doesn’t know it, just Spotify it or something for him, and he picks it up immediately. He has like perfect pitch or something, it’s amazing.” Brody said as they walked in the door.

Blaine had been thinking for hours now what he wanted to sing, but still couldn’t quite make up his mind. Maybe once he heard a few others give it a whirl, he’d figure it out.

Callbacks was a really chill place. They had about 4 of five tables at the front with a couple of chairs at each, all facing a small stage with a few mics and a baby grand. Across the back of the room, there was a bar for the 21+ crowd. The walls had a few posters from previous events, and Blaine recognized a few names like Sutton Foster, but most were still foreign to him. He couldn’t wait to get to know all the best vocalists of the “Great White Way”…and who knows, maybe join them as well.

Everyone mingled in slowly, taking off their coats and scarves, and hugging friends as they entered. Blaine had heard that New York was a place for cold-hearted workaholics who didn’t care about anyone but themselves. So far, he couldn’t see how that could be any father from the truth. This place was full of love and warmth, and he really liked that feeling.

“That was awesome, Marc!” Blaine told the blond kid with the perfect teeth. From Utah, Mormon, obvious dancer, but amazing voice nonetheless. The competitions was gonna be stiff. Marc had sang “One More Night” by Maroon 5, complete with some very interesting body rolls and suggestive glances at Laura…that was her name, the girl with the pink hombre. Something tells him she’s not interested seeing as she’s been heart-eyeing the girl checking coats at the door since they walked in.

“Hey Rachel, that was nice of you to let a few new kids go first. You’re up soon though, so what are you gonna grace us with tonight?” Brody asked the brunette girl that was just as tiny Blaine was. So this was Rachel. She was adorably cute, but he could tell she was a spit fire diva.

“Well, I was thinking of going with something a little more contemporary tonight. Yeah, I do know modern music you know! We did sing a Top 40 song together a few weeks ago!” She said as she nudged Brody with her elbow. Blaine wondered if this was the girl that Brody had been talking about earlier when he said he sang Demi Lovato. The idea of Brody singing a Disney-star song was hard to forget.

“Alright, I know you do! Where’s Hummel? Not singing tonight?”

“Oh, in the bathroom, trying to look perfect of course. Working at Vogue apparently means you have to be the epitome of a fashion icon at all times.”

“Haha, like Hummel could ever look less than flawless.”

Blaine just hung back and watch them obviously flirting. This had to be the girl he was talking about earlier.

Blaine took a seat toward the front of the room as Rachel walked up on stage, her air of confidence quite impressive to say the least.

“Hello everyone, I’m Rachel Barbra Berry, and tonight I’m gonna be singing “We Are Never Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift. It is dedicated to my crazy ex back in Ohio that literally shot himself and didn’t tell me. So over it… Anyway, hit it Pascal.”

Rachel’s voice was amazing, really, even singing a cheesy country-pop song. He could see why she was so confident. She definitely sang with passion that was for sure, though she closed her eyes a lot. That was a problem he’d dealt with too. His voice teacher had told him that was bad ‘cause it cuts off the emotion, but whatever, Rachel was bringing it.

After the song was over, he heard loud clapping and whooping coming from the back of the room. Must be Rachel’s roommate, the illustrious “Hummel” everyone talked about. Blaine wondered if she was just as obnoxious.